Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety Cellphone laws - November 2014
Hand-held Cell Phone Use: 14 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and
the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using
hand-held cell phones while driving. All are primary enforcement
laws—an officer may cite a driver for using a hand-held cell
phone without any other traffic offense taking place. Under the Utah law, no one commits an offense
when speaking on a cellphone unless they are also committing
some other moving violation other than speeding.

Local jurisdictions may or may not need specific state statutory
authority to ban cellphones. Localities that have enacted
restrictions on cellphone use include: Oahu, HI; Chicago, IL;
Brookline, MA; Detroit, MI; Santa Fe, NM; Brooklyn, North
Olmstead, and Walton Hills, OH; Conshohocken, Lebanon, and West
Conshohocken, PA; Waupaca County, WI; and Cheyenne, WY. These
locals are as of 2010, there are many more now doing the same
thing, so you definitely need to check on your own.

All Cell Phone Use: No state bans all cell
phone use for all drivers, but 38 states and D.C. ban all cell
phone use by novice drivers, and 20 states and D.C. prohibit it
for school bus drivers.

The table below shows the states that have cellphone laws and
whether they specifically ban text messaging. It is now law that
in states that have laws against cell phone usage while driving,
an officer can pull you over if he/she sees you breaking a cell
phone law with no other cause to pull you over but that one. Be
warned, it is only a matter of time before all states have
strict laws against using cell phones while driving. If you
don't know why, please visit the video section and watch a few
of the videos there and then you will know why. ;)

*These
laws are subject to change daily, especially with the public
becoming more enlightened about the increasing danger of texting
n driving. So check your own local and state laws, as well as
keep up with new laws in your own state. This is what was
published as of today, November 2014, on iihs.org.

(1)
The laws in Arkansas and California prohibit police
from stopping a vehicle to determine if a driver is
in compliance with the law. Clearly, that language
prohibits the use of checkpoints to enforce the law,
but it has been interpreted as the functional
equivalent of secondary provisions that typically
state the officer may not stop someone suspected of
a violation unless there is other, independent,
cause for a stop.

(2)
In Louisiana, all learner's permit holders,
irrespective of age, and all intermediate license
holders are prohibited from driving while using a
hand-held cellphone and all drivers younger than 18
are prohibited from using any cellphone. Effective
April 1, 2010 all drivers, irrespective of age,
issued a first driver’s license will be prohibited
from using a cellphone for one year. The cellphone
ban is secondary for novice drivers age 18 and
older.

(3)
In Oklahoma, learner's permit and intermediate
license holders are banned from using a hand-held
electronic device while operating a motor vehicle
for non-life-threatening emergency purposes.

(4)
Utah's law defines careless driving as committing a
moving violation (other than speeding) while
distracted by use of a hand-held cellphone or other
activities not related to driving.

Arkansas also bans the use of
hand-held cell phones while driving in a school zone
or in a highway construction zone. This law is
secondarily enforced.

Texas has banned the use of hand-held phones and
texting in school zones.